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(The latest iPod Devotional from theFish.com. A new one is available each Monday at theFish.com)

It is summer in Texas and that means one thing. It is hot. In fact, it is so hot that…

…farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs.

…you learn the hard way that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.

…you discover that in July, it takes only 1 finger to drive your car.

…hot water now comes out of both taps.

All of those are true because someone’s uncle checked them on Snopes. Really. Some guy told my friend that and somebody else said he was trustworthy. So forward those “facts” to everyone.

When summer hits it is always nice to be able to retreat from the heat. This summer’s escape was to Southern California to take a little sea cruise and hang out with some dear friends. And while I acknowledge that it was refreshing to drop thirty degrees from the Texas temp it was more refreshing to be with friends who are grace-misters. Yep, our friends Ed and Judy Underwood are like those giant misters you see at ballgames and amusement parks except they spray out acceptance, love and grace.

The time with them brought back memories of a song from Big Daddy Weave. The song is titled Fields of Grace and I love the imagery of the lyrics.

There’s a place that I love to run and play
There’s a place that I sing new songs of praise

Dancin’ with my Father God in fields of grace

Being with fellow believers who love you as you are and not for what they want you to be feels like running in a field of grace. Telling trusted friends everything that is true about you and being loved even more is running in a field of grace. Sharing impossible dreams without fear of ridicule is running in a field of grace. Feeling the freedom to be exactly who you are all of the time is running in a field of grace.

There’s a place where religion finally dies
There’s a place that I lose my selfish pride

Maybe that is why the time with our friends is so special. It is about Jesus and not about agenda. It is about relationship and not about religion. It is about giving and not about getting. It is about community and not about control. Those are the things that make you want to dance and run through the fields of grace.

I love my Father, my Father loves me
I dance for my Father, my Father sings over me

And nothing can take that away from me

I am sure I will soon crash from this spiritual high. I know that life and broken washing machines (currently waiting for the repair guy) and other mundane hassles will try to steal my joy. But I hope I remember the joy of running through the fields of grace with our friends. The Message puts a little different twist on the familiar words of Jesus from the tenth chapter of John.

My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him.  (John 10, The Message)

So that is my focus this day. Life happens but I know this to be true. I love my Father, my Father loves me. No one can take that away from me because it is promised in God’s Word. And even in this Texas heat I can worship and run through fields of grace. Even after someone e-mails to tell me sternly that those statements above are not confirmed on Snopes.com.

Digging through some photos reminded me of a wonderful trip to Captiva Island a couple of years ago.

As I remembered the week in paradise one memory kept coming to mind. We were blessed to be on the beach when a couple of folks pulled up to a marked sea turtle nest one morning. To our surprise they began to dig into the nest. Having an inquiring mind I asked what they were doing. I learned that the eggs in this nest had hatched seventy-two hours earlier. These dedicated volunteers had marked the nest over fifty days earlier and monitored the site every day since then. Every single day! Volunteers watch over hundreds of sea turtle nests each season. When the eggs hatch the men and women dig up the nest, count the hatched eggs and also the eggs that did not hatch. An average nest contains about 120 eggs.

But what happened next amazed and inspired me. While digging deep in the nest the volunteer pulled up a struggling but very alive baby turtle. Moments later another turtle with legs flailing was brought to the surface after being buried in two feet of sand just moments earlier.

Our new friend Sam explained how this happens.

“When the eggs hatch the baby turtles climb on top of the other eggs and each other to reach the beach. These little guys missed the ‘elevator’ to the surface.”

I was amazed that they could breath for three days underground.

“They found pockets of air among the shells that kept them alive. Now we will keep them safe until tonight and then we will release them into the sea. About one of one thousand will make it to adulthood. And if they do make it they will use a natural GPS to return from the sea to this spot to lay eggs.”

In an earlier blog I wrote that I often find sacred moments in unlikely places. This was one of those moments. Later I thought about the miracle of those two little turtles surviving despite very unlikely odds.

I thought about how it related to the message I tried (so far nearly anonymously) to communicate in my second book, “Bring’em Back Alive”.

That every believer is a precious part of Christ’s body. When even one is missing, the church lacks power and is less than whole. Whether we’re victims, perpetrators, or innocent bystanders we’re called by God to seek restoration. And when one of God’s sheep goes missing we have no choice: We are called to Bring ’Em Back Alive.

That message was demonstrated admirably by the sea turtle rescuers. Part of the survival of the turtles was related to their created will to live. But for those two baby sea turtles that we witnessed survival was entirely because two people cared enough to volunteer their time to pursue them. They cared enough to dig deep into the sand with no assurance of success. They cared enough to care for the babies and then give up more of their time to return to the sea that night to release the turtles to their destiny. And I suddenly felt saddened. Sad that really cool people like Sam will do that for baby turtles and that so many followers of Jesus can’t or won’t find the time to do that for fellow believers buried deep in the hole of despair and woundedness.

I was awed by the amazing drama of nature. Touched by the goodness of many people on this earth. And challenged by the thought that someone may be gasping for spiritual air today just waiting for me to care enough to dig a bit into their story and heart to help them survive.

Someday I will enjoy paradise that will make Captiva look shabby (what a thought!). But in the meantime I pray I will have a tender spirit that will seek, rescue and restore God’s wounded lambs with the same commitment that Sam and countless others rescue those plucky baby turtles.

Welcome to my website! We have a new look but the same commitment to you…

“Bringing sporadic joy and intermittent wisdom to tens of readers several times a week.”

Grace and peace to you, Dave

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Since millions and millions of Americans have not bought my books I continue to make my living as a television sports director. My main gig is directing the Texas Ranger’s baseball telecasts. This has been a fun year for Ranger fans and one of the biggest treats so far has been watching the amazing hitting talent of outfielder/DH Vladimir Guerrero.

As I have marveled at Guerrero’s talent I thought back to some comments by Texas hitting coach Clint Hurdle. Clint talked to our announcers during a recent telecast and commented on some of his players. He talked about some things that he was doing with different hitters. But when the talk turned to Vlad Guerrero he chuckled and said something very simple.

“Vlad was struggling a bit in the spring so we sat down and looked at some video of him when things were going well. That’s all it took.”

I keep thinking about that process. Reviewing how things looked when things were going good got the talented Guerrero back on track. And I wondered why I don’t more readily adopt that strategy for my spiritual slumps? When I am going through a tough stretch I tend to try harder and worry more. I tend to concentrate on the giant and not the One who can defeat the giant. Maybe I should remember to sit down and cue up the memory videos of how my relationship with Jesus looked when things were going well. I know I would see a few consistent things when I recall times when I was living in joy and freedom.

I would see that I was resting and trusting completely in Christ and not in myself during those good times. I would note that I lived out of my new identity in Christ each day. I would recall that I served out of gratitude and joy as I lavished in His grace. I would realize that I did not live in hiddenness and shame because I believed there is no condemnation in Christ.

If I cued the memories back to the beginning of my journey with Jesus I would remember how absolutely and completely awed I was by God’s love. I would remember how I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. I would remember how grateful I was for unmerited grace.

I could even cue the memories back to past difficult seasons and remember how God was faithful to give me grace, peace, wisdom and strength for each moment of the trial. And I would remember how I got through that time that I thought I could not get through. I might remember how I had grown during the trial and God had redeemed those struggles in my life and the lives of others.

King David certainly had his moments when he was deep in the valley of despair. Yet he still penned wonderful psalms of praise to remind himself of God’s love and mercy. Here is a fresh look at a familiar passage from Psalm 145.

God is all mercy and grace—
      not quick to anger, is rich in love. 

God is good to one and all;
      everything he does is suffused with grace. (The Message)

It is a good exercise. Remember what your relationship with God looked like when you were on the mountain top. It may be all it takes to get back on track.

On a recent flight home I spent a fair portion of the time just gazing out the window at some amazingly beautiful clouds. The sun reflecting off of the magnificent formations was spectacular. I tried to make out shapes like I used to when I was a kid. 

The exercise reminded me of a classic Peanuts cartoon when Charlie Brown. Lucy, Linus and Charlie Brown are all gazing lazily at the clouds. Lucy asks the two boys what they see.

Linus Van Pelt: Well, those clouds up there look to me look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean. [points up] That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor. And that group of clouds over there… [points] …gives me the impression of the Stoning of Stephen. I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side.
Lucy Van Pelt: Uh huh. That’s very good. What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?
Charlie Brown: Well… I was going to say I saw a duckie and a horsie, but I changed my mind.

I get that “Charlie Brown” feeling when I read many of the other bloggers and theologians that I share space with on Crosswalk. I still can’t believe they give me virtual real estate to post my humble ramblings. While other Crosswalk contributers are writing deep theological treatises I feel like I am posting a spiritual version of “duckies and horses”. Perhaps we are all simply fulfilling our niche in the body of Christ. I know there is a need for theologians who can wrestle with complex passages and doctrinal issues. I know that men and women who can define and defend sound doctrine are vital to the stability of the church. I have spent many hours reading these deep works and working out my practical theology. I am grateful for the faith and intellect of these scholars. But when I look at my spiritual cloud formations I am very much like Charlie Brown. It is pretty simple.

I see that Jesus loves me.
I see the grace of God.
I see my identity in Christ.
I see my need for the community of believers.
I see forgiveness.

In those spiritual cloud formations I see the brilliant light of hope and love.

I am grateful that there are brilliant scholars who can write about topics like “A Test Case For New Testament Aphorism” and “A Review of Carsten Peter Thiede, The Qumran Fragment 7Q5 and its Significance For New Testament Studies”. If the church depended on me to research topics like those then Jesus might as well come on back. My brain would vapor lock and then explode if given an assignment like that.

I take comfort in a story recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

“Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Luke 18, NLT)

Jesus is not saying that I should act childish and immature. He meant that I must have that child-like trust, dependence, surrender to authority and need for relationship. So here’s to you theologians and scholars! I am grateful for you and your difficult work. You free me up to look at the clouds and sing my theology boldly.

Jesus loves me,
This I know,
For the Bible tells me so….

For some reason the server has dumped the last dozen or so posts. Even the server is a critic! While we try to figure out what happened I am re-posting the recent Father’s Day series. Sorry if you get a repeat of those articles in your cyber mailbox.

Blessings and grace,
Dave

Every dad leaves a legacy. I have learned a few things through trial and many errors about being a dad who is trying to leave a positive legacy. Previous installments detailed two ways to leave a good legacy.

1. Love Your Wife
2. Affirm Your Kids

Today we will examine two more ways to establish a positive legacy. And we are adding a very dangerous twist today. I polled my three sons about my strengths and (gasp) shortcomings as their father. Before we get to those knee-buckling results llet me unveil the third way to leave a positive legacy as a dad.

   3.  Enjoy every mile of the journey

The best description I have heard about being a parent is this bit of wisdom:  “Parenting…the days are long and the years are short.”

In his book, Being a Good Dad When You Didn’t Have One, Tim Wesemann gives his readers a two-word piece of advice: “Lighten up!”  He says that adults laugh an average of 15 times a day while children laugh 400 more times. “Sometime between childhood and adulthood, we lose 385 laughs a day! That’s a great loss!” Wesemann says.  “Maybe we need not only the faith of a child but the funny bone of one as well.”

I agree. One of my favorite moments happened on a family trip. Brett is several years younger than his siblings. I was addressing his older brothers’ behavior when I snapped at the boys and said in my best dad voice, “You are acting like children.” Brett was only five, and he thought I was including him in the accusation. He pondered the comment and then said, “But I am a children.” The laughter from the backseat derailed my dad authority and it definitely lightened the moment. The family that can laugh together has a huge advantage in the journey.

The Psalmist wrote these words:  “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Sometimes it is hard to remember what a blessing those little ones are when they are holding their breath at Wal-Mart. I encourage parents to enjoy every phase of their children’s journey. And I learned that what your children take away as favorite memories may be surprising. One of the questions I asked my sons was their favorite memories of time with me. I expected that they would remember the big trips we took together or some expensive outing. I was humbled by their responses.

Firstborn son Matt:   “My favorite memories are throwing the baseball/football in the front yard of our Pecan Valley house, going to baseball games and growing up around sports.” 

Second born son Scott:   “Playing catch in the backyard for hours on end, even when your knees hurt.  Going to cut down Christmas Trees every November and stopping at the Dairy Queen on the way home.”

Youngest son Brett:   “You coaching my sports teams and going to cut down the Christmas tree.”

It was the little things that counted for them. The memories that really mattered to them were things that cost me only time. Each one of the boys felt valued when they felt I had sacrificed or made a special effort to spend time with them. I thought the big things mattered the most but I was wrong.

   4. Be a Role Model

The fourth way to leave a positive legacy is to model what you are teaching. Here is a powerful quote from Clarence Budington Kelland:  “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and he let me watch him do it.” Wow. I have seen that prove out in my own life. I can tell you exactly what my father modeled for me,  but I would have a hard time remembering any of his lectures. I believe that is an overlooked component of the wisdom expressed in Proverbs:  “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” That training should include being a role model and then the verbal training will sink in. Being an authentic role model makes the message effective.

You are a role model for your children, like it or not. Your children will, to one degree or another, model their lives after you. You have inherited some of your father’s characteristics and your children are inheriting some of yours.

Brett wrote in his responses,  “you are my biggest influence for everything.”  Scary. Whether you know it or not (or mean to or not), you are influencing the lives of your children and your children’s children.

You ARE a role model and every dad needs to reflect on that responsibility.

In Deuteronomy we find a great bit of advice for dads:  “Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you’ve seen and heard to your children and grandchildren.”

You are preparing your children to leave home. That is your job as parents. Someday, they’ll take what they’ve learned from you and begin to apply it out in the real world. You’ve got approximately 18 years to get them ready. I have joked that Joni and I had a sign on their bedroom doors that read, “Checkout Time is 18 Years…No Exceptions!” But we both believed we were stewards of our sons with the charge of preparing them to leave.

When I asked my boys what I had taught them, this is what I read:

From Scott:  “You taught me to love the Lord and trust Him with my life.  Your spiritual growth over the past decade has inspired me and taught me a lot about how to grow in the Lord. You taught me to be loyal and hard working in everything I’m involved with, and most importantly, to never give up.  Burchett’s aren’t quitters, even if they want to be sometimes.”

From Brett:  “You taught me how to be a strong Christian man and how to play sports.”

From Matt:  “Never quit something you started. Work hard. Do everything with excellence. Treat everybody with respect and genuine kindness.”

Before you think that I am some really great Dad, let’s return to the third question I asked the boys: what they wish I had done differently. Their responses were consistent and they saddened me. I share this in the hope that young dads will take this to heart.

Matt:    “I wish you could have been home more.”
Scott:  “I wish you could have been home more.”
Brett:   “I wish you could have been home more.”

And here is what I wish I had done differently. I wish I would have been home more. I cannot change the past. God is gracious and loving. My relationship with all of my boys is wonderful despite those misplaced priorities at times. Love does cover a multitude of sins. My sons know they are loved. They know they have my approval and respect. I am blessed by them.